


A Tree for Winter's Star

by Nostalgia_Reflex



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Secret Santa 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 14:38:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13148763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nostalgia_Reflex/pseuds/Nostalgia_Reflex
Summary: Maru and the farmer spend their first big holiday together as a married couple.





	A Tree for Winter's Star

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Secret Santa gift for drawingnovels over on tumblr. Merry Christmas/Winter's Star, drawingnovels! I wish you a lovely holiday, and I hope you enjoy my gift to you!

When Nani said she was going out to cut down a tree to bring back home, it hadn't crossed Maru’s mind that she would come back with the biggest pine she could find on the farm. She had to look up from her book twice when she heard the front door creak open and saw her wife huffing and puffing with effort as she dragged it inside. It was tall and wide, taking up more room than the small space in the corner they originally cleared for it could handle. They had to shuffle furniture around just to get it to fit within their living area, and when the tip of it bent at the ceiling, Maru took a saw to the base and cut it down by half its length.

“Just wait—it’ll be worth the effort once it’s decorated,” her wife insisted, pulling out pine needles from her dark hair as Maru washed tree sap off her hands in the kitchen sink.

However, as they went through their cardboard box of ornaments later that evening, it soon became apparent they were sorely unprepared for a tree of its stature. The line of holiday lights went about three-quarters around, there were only a handful of balls to hang up, and the plastic airplane Harvey had given her last year as a pre-Winter’s Star gift looked lonely hanging by itself in the center of the tree. Maru was attempting to fill the vacant space by strategically shifting the balls around when Nani dipped out of the room and returned with a heap of construction paper, string, markers, and scissors. She slapped the pile down onto the table with a fierce gleam in her eye and determinedly pulled up a chair.

If there was one thing Maru admired about her wife, it was her resourcefulness. The hours flew by in a montage of cutting, folding, doodling, glittering, laughing, and mugs of hot chocolate. An online Winter’s Star station crooned in the background as they crafted rainbow chains out of construction paper, popped popcorn to make strands (though more than a fair share of it went into their bellies, admittedly), and traced shapes of snowmen, reindeer, elves, bells, and gingerbread people to cut out and color in. They hung it all up on the tree, and by the time they finished putting on the last of the chains and paper ornaments, Maru had to admit the tree her wife picked was beautiful (albeit she would still tease her about its size for years to come; that was guaranteed).

“Not bad,” she said, hands on her hips as she gazed at their handiwork with an admiring eye.

“Not at all,” Nani agreed. “It’s missing something, though.” She rubbed at a patch of glitter on her glasses with the sleeve of her sweater before setting it back on her face again. “Do we have a star to go on top?” She reached for the cardboard box; Maru put her hand in her way.

“I have something better,” she said, smiling at the mystified expression on her wife’s face. It quickly changed to one of intrigue as Maru spun around and strode out the front door, heading for the workshop out back that Nani had commissioned her mother to build for her a month after she moved in. She hurried inside, breathing in the scent of freshly cut wood that still lingered in the air as she opened the bottom drawer to her metal desk and rifled through it. She pulled out a small mechanical robot that was about the size of her palm and ran back to the farmhouse with it, barely remembering to flip off the light as she left the workshop.

“Here.” She held the robot out proudly in her hand for Nani to see.

Her eyes widened. “Is that a baby MarILDA?”

Maru laughed. “Sort of,” she admitted, adjusting her glasses. “I made it with the scraps I had left from her creation. It’s not sentient like her, though,” she added. “It’s just a tree topper.” She pressed a tiny round button on the back of the robot and its head began to revolve around slowly, its eyes emitting a small red glow in the dimly lit room.

“That’s amazing.”

Warmth trickled through her at her wife’s praise. “I’m glad you like it,” she said, beaming up at her. “I thought it made for a nice tribute to MarILDA, wherever she is now.” She inclined her head, staring up at the massive tree. The only concern that remained was how they were going to get her robot on top.

As it turned out, Nani had a solution for that, too.

Arms wrapped around Maru’s legs. She let out a squeak of alarm as the ground disappeared from beneath her feet and she went upwards towards the ceiling.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” the farmer grunted as Maru groped the air for something to hold onto. “Can you reach it?”

“I think so,” she answered, steadying herself on Nani’s shoulder. It was a stretch, but she managed to slide the robot onto the top branch. Her wife watched her from below, her glasses reflecting the glow of the multi-colored fairy lights wrapped around the tree. Maru glanced down at her and mirrored her smile as she was eased back down to the ground. The arms that were around her legs migrated to her waist, and she looped her arms around her neck, fingers clasped together at the back.

“Pretty nice for our first Winter’s Star on the farm together, huh?” she murmured, her gaze soft.

Maru made a noise of agreement. “Do you think the real MarILDA would approve?” she wondered.

“I think she would be very flattered.”

“I’d like to believe so.” Her eyes strayed to the window. “Wherever she is, I hope she's happy.”

“Do you ever regret giving her that self-awareness chip?” Nani inquired, cocking her head slightly to the side.

Maru shook her head. “No, but I wish she hung around a little longer. Our time together was so brief.” She vaguely wondered if her mother felt the same way when she ‘left the nest.’ She built MarILDA alone in her bedroom over the course of a year. She knew every bolt and cog that went into her, every wire and line of coding that made her mind tick, but she never got to _know_ her. Maru was full of so many questions for her; if only there had been time for a single conversation.

A giggle slipped through her lips as Nani nuzzled her neck. “Hey,” she protested.

“Hey.” She kissed the tip of her nose. “Happy Winter’s Star.”

“Happy Winter’s Star,” she echoed, smiling warmly. She stood up on her toes and met Nani’s lips with hers, closing her eyes as they kissed. Pretty nice for their first big holiday together, indeed.

She still thought the tree was far too big for the two of them, though.


End file.
